Fossil Fueled Foolery - An Illustrated Primer on the Fossil Fuel Industry's Deceptive Tactics SECOND EDITION - NAACP
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Fossil Fueled Foolery
An Illustrated Primer on the Fossil Fuel Industry’s
Deceptive Tactics
SECOND EDITION
NAACP ENVIRONMENTAL AND
CLIMATE JUSTICE PROGRAM
APRIL 2021
1
Table of Contents
Overview ...................................................................................................................... 4
Top 10 Fossil Fuel Industry Tactics .......................................................................... 8
Invest in Efforts that Undermine Democracy ....................................................... 9
Finance Political Campaigns and Pressure Politicians ..................................... 11
Fund Scientists and Scientific Research Institutions to Publish Biased
Research Studies .................................................................................................. 12
Say Government Regulations Hurt the Economy and Low-Income
Communities .......................................................................................................... 14
Deny or Understate the Harms Polluting Facilities Cause to People and the
Environment ........................................................................................................... 15
Deflect Responsibility – Shift Blame to Communities They Pollute ................ 19
Exaggerate the Level of Job Creation and Downplay the Lack of Quality and
Safety in Jobs ........................................................................................................ 21
Co-opt Community Leaders and Organizations and Misrepresent the Interests
and Opinions of Communities.............................................................................. 22
Praise False Solutions While Claiming that Real Solutions are Impractical,
Impossible, or Harmful for BIPOC and Poor Communities .............................. 26
“Embrace” Renewables to Control the New Energy Economy ........................ 28
The Real Facts About the Imperative to Transition to A New Energy Economy 29
Fossil Fuel Emissions Kill – Disproportionately Killing Residents of BIPOC
and Low-Income Communities ............................................................................ 29
Fossil Fuel Pollution Affects Communities Differently: BIPOC Communities
Carry Burdens & Harms, with Few Economic Benefits..................................... 32
Clean Energy Can Power Our Nation ................................................................. 35
Clean Energy Makes Sense: Health, Economic, and Environmental Benefits
................................................................................................................................. 36
The New Energy Economy Creates Better, Safer Jobs with Less Investment
................................................................................................................................. 37
Transitioning to a New Energy Economy is the Only Real Solution................ 38
2
Climate Justice Advocacy: 10 Ways Communities Can Advance the Shift to
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Resources ....................................................... 39
Leverage Residents’ Solidarities within Communities to Ground Resistance
Against Climate Injustices and Fossil Fuel Manipulation ................................. 41
Shift the Narrative Towards Justice: Renewable Resources Support Equity
and Community Resiliency................................................................................... 43
Seed Education in Communities for Sustainable Change: Public Learning
Practices and Community-Based Participatory Action Research .................... 44
Expand Networks of Support at the Local, Regional, and National Level ...... 47
Support and Advance Just and Equitable Policies ............................................ 48
Participate in the Process..................................................................................... 50
Take Legal Action ................................................................................................. 52
Reverse Citizens United ....................................................................................... 52
Support Campaign Finance Reform ................................................................... 53
List of Technical Resources ..................................................................................... 54
Glossary of Terms ..................................................................................................... 55
Image Credits ............................................................................................................ 57
3
Overview
On September 17th, 2020, the public art
piece, “Metronome,” installed ten stories
high in Manhattan’s Union Square, was
reprogrammed to countdown Earth's life.
The Climate Clock1 now displays the
remaining time until climate conditions
become irreversible – if we do not make
the critical shifts necessary to save our
environment, health and wellbeing. With
each tick, we are reminded that if
greenhouse gas emissions continue to
rise, global temperatures will lead to
devastating climate effects.
The Climate Clock in Manhattan began its
countdown from seven years, 103 days,
15 hours, 40 minutes, and seven
seconds. At the time of this primer’s
release, April 1st 2021, the virtual climate
clock (Climate Clock2) reads approximately six years, 309 days, 19 hours, 58 minutes, and
four seconds. Between the Climate Clock’s first tick and now, less than a year has passed
and we have experienced:
Record-breaking storms3 making landfall and reaching "hurricane" status in the U.S.;
GOP representatives continuing to push skewed climate agendas that protect fossil fuels
companies4 that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions; and
A massive snowstorm5 in Texas that left millions without water and power during below-
freezing temperatures.
Although it is April Fools' Day, indeed, this is no joke.
Yet, the conservative-based, American Legislative Exchange Council's (ALEC) position on
Environmental Stewardship6 openly states on their website, "The reality of the situation,
1
Machemer, T. (2020, September 22). Clock in New York counts down the time remaining to avert climate disaster. Retrieved from
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/clock-new-york-counts-down-time-remaining-avert-climate-disaster-180975881/
2
The climate clock. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://climateclock.world/.
3
Chinchar, A., & Miller, B. (2020, August 30). Climate change didn't cause Hurricane Laura but it did make the storm worse. Retrieved from
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/30/weather/weather-hurricane-laura-climate-impacts-scope/index.html
4
Siegel, J. (2020, February 12). House Republicans unveil 'realistic' climate plan focused on capturing carbon from fossil fuels. Retrieved
from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/house-republicans-unveil-realistic-climate-plan-focused-on-capturing-carbon-from-
fossil-fuels
5
Texas' frozen power grid is a preview of climate Change disasters to come. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-
power-outage-storm-climate-change/
6
Environmental stewardship. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.alec.org/issue/environmental-stewardship/
4
however, is that it is an amazing time to be living in the U.S. and environmental quality has
hardly ever been better than it is today."
Yep. You’d expect to see “April Fools!” but they manage to make such ridiculous claims with a
straight face!
The NAACP’s inaugural edition of the Fossil Fueled Foolery primer, 2019, shed light on the
deceptive tactics used by fossil fuel conglomerates and their supporters at the expense of
communities most affected by their pollution. They will deny any responsibility, but we’re not
fooled, they are responsible for the dire climate conditions.
Communities already fraught with decades of disenfranchisement, disinvestment, and
displacement are now also subject to the worst effects of climate change. Not to mention the
observed health-related risks due to increased toxins in the environment within Black,
Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and low-income communities. In 2021, the effects
of a respiratory-based pandemic have intensified these inequities, ravaged the economy, and
accelerated the need for environmental and healthcare solutions.
5
You would think this would be enough of a call to action. Instead some of the world's largest
banks7 still funnel trillions of dollars into fossil fuels ($2.7 trillion since the Paris Agreement).
This is going on even after the adoption of the Paris Agreement (Dec. 2015), and the UN's
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) requirement for urgent and aggressive
action on eliminating greenhouse gas emissions.
Reports published by the NAACP such as -- Coal Blooded: Putting Profits Before People,
Fumes Across the Fenceline, and Lights Out in the Cold: Reforming Utility Shut Off Policies
as if Human Rights Matter – highlight fossil fuel companies’ exploitative tactics that conceal
their environmental destruction and diminish their social and economic harm.
Climate effects are not always what meets the eye. There are invisible effects on community
cohesion and emotional support systems that pose deep, visceral threats to a community's
internal resilience.8 So, no - environmental quality is not "hardly ever been better than it is
today." The more they deny, the more communities suffer.
Yet, there’s hope. Next to the virtual Climate Clock, there is a "lifeline" - a percentage of the
world's energy from renewable resources. At the time of this primer’s release, we are at 28%
of energy from renewable resources. For the sake of our future and our children's future, we
must strive to reach 100% before the Climate Clock times out.
7
BankTrack, Indigenous Environmental Network, Oil Change International, Rainforest Action Network, Reclaim Finance, and Sierra Club.
(18 March 2020). Banking on climate change, 2020. Retrieved from http://ran.org/bankingonclimatechange2020
8
Lipsitz, G. (2007). The racialization of space and the spatialization of race theorizing the hidden architecture of landscape. Landscape
Journal, 26(1), 10-23.
6
We must empower communities most
affected by climate change to network We must empower communities
resources and develop community-driven most affected by climate change to
strategies. We know that the scales are
“tipped” and to beat wealthy corporations at network resources and develop
their own game, we must be knowledgeable community-driven strategies.
about the strategies and tactics they use.
When we take up this fight, we fight for us:
our histories, our identities, our health. We
must, as Shirley Chisolm notes, be "Unbought, Unbossed, and Unbamboozled."
Each tick of the Climate Clock is a rallying beat to save our communities most at risk in the
face of irreversible climate change. In accordance with the NAACP's longstanding
commitment to justice and civil rights, the purpose of this primer is to:
to identify and describe the common tactics used by the fossil fuel industry and
associated supporters that not only promote their agendas, but embed climate
injustices;
provide real facts on the issues; and
provide stories and strategies of action and advocacy within our communities that
ground resistance to injustices caused by the fossil fuel industry.
7
Top 10 Fossil Fuel Industry Tactics
1. Invest in Efforts that Undermine Democracy
2. Finance Political Campaigns & Pressure Politicians
3. Fund Scientists and Scientific Research Institutions to
Publish Biased Research
4. Say Government Regulations Hurt the Economy and
Low-Income Communities
5. Deny or Understate the Harms Polluting Facilities
Cause to People and the Environment
6. Deflect Responsibility – Shift Blame to Communities
They Pollute
7. Co-opt Community Leaders and Organizations and
Misrepresent the Interests and Opinions of
Communities
8. Exaggerate the Level of Job Creation and Downplay
the Lack of Quality and Safety in Jobs
9. Praise False Solutions While Claiming that Real
Solutions are Impractical, Impossible, or Harmful for
BIPOC and Poor Communities
10.“Embrace” Renewables to Control the New Energy
Economy
8
Invest in Efforts that Undermine Democracy
“I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections
are not won by a majority of people. They
never have been from the beginning of our
country, and they are not now. As a matter
of fact, our leverage in the elections quite
candidly goes up as the voting populace
goes down.”
ALEC founder, Paul Weyrich (1980)
Political disenfranchisement is a frequently
used tactic that restricts groups most affected
by the issues on the ballot from voting. Fossil
fuel companies including Peabody Coal, Duke
Energy, and of course Koch Industries, have
historically paid substantial membership dues
to groups like the American Legislative
Exchange Council (ALEC), who specialize in
drafting "pre-packaged," state legislation to
manipulate and/or suppress voting rights.9
Notorious for its broad, anti-civil rights policy
agenda10, ALEC is most strategic in restricting
voting in BIPOC communities. ALEC's
corporate members' have "deep pockets" to
finance legislation from voter ID laws to
redistricting and gerrymandering. During the
2020 election amid the pandemic, mail-in
ballots and early voting provided ways to
exercise a citizen’s right to vote. ALEC
members worked quickly to increase barriers
and restrictions11.
In addition to suppressing voter rights, ALEC
falsely boasts policies against clean air,
9
ALEC Corporations. (2019). Sourcewatch. Retrieved from https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ALEC_Corporations
10
Taylor, C. (2018, August). ALEC gathering gives platform to hatemonger Horowitz. The Cap Times. Retrieved from
https://madison.com/ct/opinion/column/rep-chris-taylor-alec-gathering-gives-platform-to-hatemonger-horowitz/article_3002a085-1320-5b70-
a278-9b935fae106c.html
11
Koch, A. (2020, June 4). ALEC legislator introduces bill to suppress the vote in Ohio. Retrieved from
https://www.prwatch.org/comment/47047
9
energy efficiency, clean energy, and
energy sovereignty. ALEC's recent model
bills identify fossil fuel facilities as "critical
infrastructure."12 This status restricts public
protests often with severe penalties –
further harnessing policy to silence voices.
Aside from ALEC, skewed policies as slick
as oil that undermine democracy also lurch
in through lobbyists with significant political
power. Since lobbying is in essence the
influence on governmental policies, a
network with governmental officials is key.
It comes as no surprise that in 2020, it was
reported that 28 out of 4013 American
Petroleum lobbyists have previously held
government positions.
In January 2021, Duke faced scrutiny for
donating more than $500,000 through its
corporate Political Action Committee (PAC)
to Members of Congress who voted to
object to the certification of the 2020 U.S.
election results in the past three election
cycles,14 including at least $181,000 in the
2020 cycle.15 Duke responded to the
criticism by announcing a 30-day pause of
PAC contributions to federal
candidates.16 However, when Duke issued a
new policy on political and lobbying
expenditures in March, it contained no
pledge to end support for anti-democracy
politicians or align its policy influence
activities with its net-zero commitment.17
12
Kaufman, A.C. (2021, February 20). 4 more states propose harsh new penalties for protesting fossil fuels. Retrieved from
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fossil-fuel-protest_n_602c1ff6c5b6c95056f3f6af
13
Center for Responsive Politics. American petroleum institute profile: Summary. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/american-petroleum-institute/summary?id=D000031493
14
https://www.energyandpolicy.org/utility-donations-members-congress-overturn-election/
15
List of top Duke PAC donation recipients available as of February 19, 2021 at https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/duke-
energy/recipients?id=D000000477 was compared with the list of lawmakers who objected to the election results after the Capitol Hill attack,
available at https://www.vox.com/2021/1/6/22218058/republicans-objections-election-result. Note that total amount reported is subject to
change if candidates file additional reports or revisions to prior reports of donations received or donations returned during the 2020 election
cycle.
16
https://www.bpr.org/post/duke-energy-pauses-contributions-federal-politicians-following-insurrection#stream/0
17
https://www.energyandpolicy.org/utility-climate-policy/https://www.duke-energy.com/our-company/investors/corporate-
governance/political-expenditures-policy
10Finance Political
Campaigns and Pressure
Politicians
In 2010, the Supreme Court's
landmark decision in Citizens
United v. Federal Election
Commission determined that
limiting political spending by
corporations restricted their
constitutional right to freedom of
expression. Slyly, the court’s
decision also shifted political
power away from citizens to
wealthy corporations and special interest
groups.
The State of Ohio, in July 201918, passed
a law that reversed the state’s renewable
energy initiatives. This new law, HB6,
offered subsidies to increase production
at nuclear and coal power plants. The
law hurt residents of Ohio, slipping in an
additional charge19 on utility bills that
ultimately sent $150k a year to nuclear
power plants. Coincidentally, Ohio
Republican House Speaker Larry
Householder advocated for HB6 and
coal and nuclear power.
One year later, in July 2020, House Speaker Householder was
arrested20 in connection with a $60 million bribery scheme in which
First Energy Corp., a top utility company in Ohio (allegedly), paid
Householder along with top aids and lobbyists over a 3-year period
to “ram through” HB6 into law and destroy any opposing ballot
initiatives.
Leading up to the 2020 election, the American Petroleum Institute
(API) spent over $5 million in lobbying practices13.
18
Chow, A. (n.d.). Ohio's new energy law: What you should know. Retrieved from https://www.statenews.org/post/ohio-s-new-energy-law-
what-you-should-know
19
Wamsley, L. (2020, July 21). Ohio house speaker arrested in connection with $60 million bribery scheme. Retrieved from
https://www.npr.org/2020/07/21/893493224/ohio-house-speaker-arrested-in-connection-to-60-million-bribery-scheme
20
Pomerantz, D. (2020, July 20). Ohio house speaker Larry Householder arrested. Will FirstEnergy corp. be charged next? What you need
to know. Retrieved from https://www.energyandpolicy.org/householder-firstenergy
11They funneled money to campaign
contributions, mostly financing the Senate
Leadership Fund – a super PAC that supports
the Republican majority.
With financial support from the fossil fuel
industry, politicians actively support destructive
energy practices, falsely claim that emissions,
not fossil fuels, are the enemy21 and draft diluted
environmental agendas that focus on planting
trees22 instead of shutting down industrially
polluted, cancerous alleys23.
Fund Scientists and Scientific
Research Institutions to Publish
Biased Research Studies
Author of the Paradox of Choice, Swarthmore
psychologist, Barry Schwartz, remarked, "when you rely
on incentives, you undermine values.” 24 At U.S. higher
education institutions, incentivizing faculty with tenured-
track positions and research through external funding
channels has done just that in academic research25,26.
Reliance on external funding pressures faculty, along
with their researchers, to produce research and
scholarship that supports their funder’s interests. Such
conflicts of interest are exemplified at Colorado State
University (CSU), who named their College of Natural
Resources after fracking tycoon Ed Warner after a $30
million endowment to the college in 2005. CSU also
accepted $5 million from Exxon Mobil to study the
@Anya Schoolman
21
Siegel, J. (2020, January 30). How house republicans won over conservatives to gain consensus on a climate agenda. Retrieved March
15, 2021, from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/how-house-republicans-won-over-conservatives-to-gain-consensus-on-
a-climate-agenda
22
Friedman, L., & Green, M. (2020, February 19). The republican climate agenda. The New York Times Online. Retrieved from
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/19/climate/nyt-newsletter-republican-climate-agenda.html?auth=login-google
23
Pasley, J. (2020, April 09). Inside Louisiana's horrifying 'cancer alley,' an 85-mile stretch of pollution and environmental racism that's now
dealing with some of the highest Coronavirus death rates in the country. Business Insider Online. Retrieved from
https://www.businessinsider.com/louisiana-cancer-alley-photos-oil-refineries-chemicals-pollution-2019-11#unlike-the-black-soot-that-used-
to-linger-in-mining-towns-here-the-pollution-registers-quietly-its-in-the-oily-taste-of-the-water-on-the-blackened-leaves-of-fruit-trees-and-in-
the-acrid-odor-in-the-air-according-to-the-washington-post-2
24
Zetter, K. (2009, Feb. 6). TED: Barry Schwartz and the Importance of Practical Wisdom. WIRED. Retrieved from
www.wired.com/2009/02/ted-barry-schwa
25
Edwards, M., & Roy, S. (2017). Academic research in the 21st century: maintaining scientific integrity in a climate of perverse incentives
and hypercompetition. Environmental Engineering Science, 34(1), 51–61.
26
Rouse, W. B., Lombardi, J. V., & Craig, D. D. (2018). Modeling research universities: Predicting probable futures of public vs. private and
large vs. small research universities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115(50), 12582–
12589.
12impact of natural gas drilling on wildlife.27 Surprisingly, this report denies and understates the
negative impacts of the fossil fuel industry, discredits the practicality and value of clean and
renewable energy systems, and refutes the very existence of climate change and the role of
human activity in its proliferation.
E=MC2 Enviro-lies = Manipulation X Ca$h2
The Center for American Progress, in a 2010 report, identified over 50 research agreements
between universities and major energy companies, where the companies donated anywhere
between $1 million to $500 million towards energy-related research.
27
Zaffos, J. (2013). Oil and gas companies pour money into research universities. High Country News. Retrieved from
http://www.hcn.org/issues/45.1/oil-and-gas-companies-pour-money-into-research-universities
13Outside of universities and higher education institutions, scientific institutions are also
contributing to biased research. In 1997, the National Centre for Cancer Institute (NCI)
published a ground-breaking study on the chemical benzene, found in crude oil and gasoline,
and its connection to the development of chronic diseases in workers exposed to the
chemical. In an attempt to save face, a series of petrochemical companies gave nearly $40
million to fund scientific research “designed to protect member company interests.”28 Out
comes the “Shanghai Research Project,” which spouted research supporting the
petrochemical companies’ practices.
The main take away here: we must carefully examine research and especially its funders.
Say Government Regulations Hurt the Economy and Low-Income
Communities
Mayor Harry Brower of North Slope
Borough, Alaska, wrote an opinion piece29
in the Wall Street Journal that criticized
policies that pressured banks to limit or
restrict funding for gas and oil projects in
North Slope and the surrounding Artic
areas. Brower claimed these to be
racialized policies that “harm Alaska
Natives who live in the area and rely on the
oil and gas industry for their livelihoods.”30
Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski and
Dan Sullivan of Alaska also supported
Brower’s position. Sullivan even provided
testimony31 emphasizing the beauty of
Alaska’s landscape that has thrived over the
years with drilling and development. Yet,
North Slope is warming at rapid speeds with
one of its local towns, Utqiagvik,
experiencing five, record-breaking warm
winters since 2014.32
28
Union of Concerned Scientists. (2017, October 12). Fossil fuel companies distorted the science about the dangers of benzene. Retrieved
from https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/fossil-fuel-companies-distorted-science-about-dangers-benzene
29
Brower, H., Jr. (2020, January 24). Goldman Sachs to native Alaskans: Drop dead. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from
https://www.wsj.com/articles/goldman-sachs-to-native-alaskans-drop-dead-11579908814
30
Brooks, J. (2020, June 18). Alaska congressional delegation suggests banks' turn against Arctic oil discriminates against natives.
Retrieved from https://www.adn.com/politics/2020/06/17/alaska-congressional-delegation-suggests-banks-turn-against-arctic-oil-might-be-
driven-by-racism/
31
SitNews. (2020, February 7). Sullivan rebukes senate democrats' efforts to block Anwr development. Retrieved from
http://www.sitnews.us/0220News/020720/020720_anwr.html
32
Herz, N. (2020, October 19). Big oil's answer to melting Arctic: Cooling the ground so it can keep drilling. The Guardian. Retrieved from
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/19/oil-alaska-arctic-global-heating-local-cooling
14Typically, fossil fuel companies portray themselves as job creators and community builders.
In this vein, they will frame any regulation against their production to be a harmful to the
economy and communities by way of limiting the job opportunities they create and ultimately
contributing to America’s poverty problem. 33 As Frank Macchiarola, senior vice president for
American Petroleum, offers a seemingly heartfelt account on the Biden administration’s
environmental regulations, “they are taking actions that will harm the economy and cost
Americans their jobs. […] We’re concerned, and everyone in the country should be
concerned.”34
Where is Macchiarola’s heartfelt condolences for the communities chronically exposed to
toxins in their air, land, and water supplies contaminated by oil refineries?
You’re telling me how to manage my
environment? Look at this
environmental wasteland.
~ Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK)
Deny or Understate the Harms Polluting Facilities Cause to People
and the Environment
“In the United States, based on the color of your skin and the money
in your bank account, you’re literally breathing different air.”
~Dr. Robert Bullard35
33
Bakst, D. (2017, April 5). Big government policies that hurt the poor and how to address them. Retrieved from
https://www.heritage.org/poverty-and-inequality/report/big-government-policies-hurt-the-poor-and-how-address-them
34
Dlouhy, J. (2021, January 23). Oil industry reels as biden targets fossil fuels in first days. Bloomberg. Retrieved from
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-23/oil-industry-reels-as-biden-targets-fossil-fuels-in-first-days
35
Invisible Houston: Full Interview with Dr. Robert Bullard, Father of Environmental Justice Movement. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/9/7/invisible_houston_full_interview_with_dr
15A foul odor blankets the air of Eight Mile,
a predominately Black community with
many retirees and low-income residents36,
in Mobile County, Alabama. The smell –
something close to the stench of rotten
eggs36 – has saturated the air since 2008,
when lightning struck an underground
pipe at Mobile Gas Service Corp. and
caused a chemical spill.
The company failed to report the spill of
an estimated 6,000 pounds of mercaptan,
a chemical containing sulfur and carbon
that is added to natural gas to detect
leaks.37 Mobile Gas still has not confirmed
the size of the spill, yet the company stated the “amount lost has always been safe.”38 As of
2016, high levels of mercaptan still filled the air in Eight Mile. As a result, sever respiratory
problems pervaded the community and, in 2020, cases of COVID-19 soared for the area.39
36
Banerjee, N. (2017, March 17). A tale of two leaks: fixed in California, ignored in Alabama. Retrieved from
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17032016/mercaptans-eight-mile/
37
Dermansky, J. (2016, August 5). Eight years after a mercaptan spill, residents of Eight Mile, Alabama, call for evacuation. Retrieved from
https://www.desmogblog.com/2016/08/07/eight-years-after-mercaptan-spill-residents-eight-mile-alabama-call-evacuation
38
Smith, M. (2017, April 17). Eight mile Is Alabama's chemical Katrina. Retrieved from https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2017-3-may-
june/grapple/eight-mile-alabamas-chemical-katrina
39
Blower, R. (2020, October 21). With COVID-19 taking a new toll, a poor black community in Alabama awaits justice for a 2008 industrial
disaster " NCRC. Retrieved from https://ncrc.org/with-covid-19-taking-a-new-toll-a-poor-black-community-in-alabama-awaits-justice-for-a-
2008-industrial-disaster/
16According to a report by the Center for
Effective Government,40 larger and
"more chemical-intensive facilities tend
to be located in counties with larger
black populations and in counties with
high levels of income inequality." In
Texas, just outside of Houston, the
Harrisburg and Manchester
neighborhoods are encircled41 by nearly
30 refineries and chemical plants,
including sewage treatment facilities
and hazardous waste sites. In the area
of Harrisburg, reports of cancer are
approximately 22% higher42 than the
more affluent Houston area.
Demographically, Harrisburg is
comprised of 98% Hispanic residents,
with many below the poverty line41.
During Hurricane Harvey in 2017,
intense rainfall caused a tank failure at a
local refinery that led to approximately
40
Center for Effective Government. (2016, January 15). Living in the shadow of danger. Retrieved from
https://issuu.com/foreffectivegov/docs/shadow-of-danger-highrespdf
41
Crawford, J. (2018, March 15). Environmental racism in Houston's Harrisburg/Manchester neighborhood. Retrieved from
http://bay.stanford.edu/blog/2018/3/15/environmental-racism-in-houstons-harrisburgmanchester-neighborhood
42
Mankad, R. (2017, October 11). As Houston plots a sustainable path forward, it's leaving this neighborhood behind. Retrieved from
https://grist.org/article/the-newer-greener-houston-isnt-for-everybody/
172,000 pounds43 of chemicals leaked into the local area. Despite these outcomes, Texas
representative Brian Babin44 continues to praise the local industry and honor projects like the
Keystone Pipeline with fallacious claims that it “will make America stronger and more secure.”
Fossil fuel companies and their advocates will point to inadequate infrastructure or the
lifestyle choices of communities to deflect any responsibility in perpetuating longstanding
disinvestment that make such communities most vulnerable to environmental injustices.
Injustices such as, in addition to the health hazards described above, displacement caused
by natural disasters. Fossil fuel companies will also turn a blind eye on the repercussions
displacement has on the systems of aid and support within these communities.
The professor of Black Studies and Sociology at the University of California, George Lipsitz
(2007)8 perceived that Hurricane Katrina’s effect on vulnerable communities exemplified how
working-class, Black residents in communities were often “resource-poor” due to decades of
defunding and disinvestment. Yet, in spite of adversities, they were “network-rich” in support
systems grounded in solidarities of place. Displacement causes non-tangible losses to
community support systems concurrently with physical loss and damage.
43
Dart, T. (2018, January 29). After Harvey, Houston suburb suffers a persistent problem: Waves of foul air. Guardian Online. Retrieved
from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/29/houston-manchester-hurricane-harvey-texas-foul-air
44
Babin, B. (n.d.). U.S. Congressman Brian Babin: Energy. Retrieved March 15, 2021, from
https://babin.house.gov/issues/issue/?IssueID=14891
18Deflect Responsibility – Shift Blame to Communities They Pollute
In the New Orleans metropolitan area, nestled
along the east bank of the Mississippi River, on
the fringes of the French Quarter limelight, three
sleepy towns are deemed the sickest of the
nation. Laplace, Reserve, and Gramercy are all
situated in “Cancer Alley”45 – the stretch of land
85-miles long lined with oil refineries and
petrochemical plants. Here, the air is reportedly
“the most polluted” in the country, and BIPOC and
low-income residents suffer the loss of their loved
ones who have died from cancer.
First, Do No Harm, Cassidy….
And to think, he took an oath to do no harm.
In February 2021, when President Biden
referred to “Cancer Alley” and its legacy of
pollution, the Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy took the reference as and affront.46 He used the
expected rhetoric of fossil fuel companies and their supporters, feigning concern for the
Louisiana residents who work “tirelessly to make the state cleaner.” Cassidy also attributed
the rise in cancer rates to lifestyle choices, deflecting responsibility of the chemical factories
and plants pollution. Cassidy received over $500k in campaign contributions47 from the oil
and gas industry in 2020.
45
Blackwell, V., Drash, W., & Lett, C. (2017, October 20). Toxic tensions in the heart of 'Cancer alley'. CNN Online. Retrieved from
https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/20/health/louisiana-toxic-town/index.html
46
Baurick, T. (2021, February 03). It's a slam upon our state: Sen. Bill Cassidy rebukes Joe Biden over Cancer alley remarks. Retrieved
from https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_98b5dd56-665c-11eb-993d-ab9537e3b12f.html
47
Center for Responsive Politics. Bill Cassidy: Campaign finance summary. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-
congress/bill-cassidy/summary?cid=N00030245&cycle=2020&type=I
19“Years ago, Gene Collins and
other residents won a lawsuit
against two companies that operate
in the area for pollution. He said
he has tried to work with oil and
gas companies to determine a way
to capture the methane and liquefy
it. The companies, he said, would
rather ‘play games’ than find a
solution.”
Gene Collins is President of the Odessa
NAACP and chairs the Texas State
Conference NAACP’s Justice Committee
48
48
Griffey, E. (2021, February 02). Oil & Gas Companies Are Polluting Without Permits. Spectrum News. Retrieved from
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/san -antonio/news/2021/02/01/oil---gas-companies-are-polluting-without-permits-
20Exaggerate the Level of Job Creation and Downplay the Lack of
Quality and Safety in Jobs
A television commercial opens with a woman49 proudly telling the American people that safe,
secure natural gas is the connection between plentiful American jobs and a re-energized
economy. This advertisement was part of a marketing campaign50 promising a
“manufacturing renaissance,” job opportunities, and clean air. The producer? No other than
American Petroleum Institute (API).
Framing their polluting plants as job-
creators, stimulators of the economy and
community developers has allowed them to
slide by regulations and acquire publicly
funded subsidies. But we see that their
promises do not align with reality.
The Ohio River Valley’s 2021 report51 on
natural gas production documents a boom
in production over the decade, while job
growth and salaries remained stagnant. In
the 22 Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West
Virginia counties, which produce over 90%
of natural gas for the region, jobs rose only
1.6%. Across the nation, fossil fuel industry
growth was less than 1%52 due to the
competition of clean energy technologies.
“We only give money to
our friends and your folks
went down and talked bad
about coal to the EPA.”
49
Energy Tomorrow. (2013). Connecting the dots. [Television Commercial]. Retrieved from https://www.ispot.tv/ad/7TAE/energy-tomorrow-
connecting-the-dots
50
Energy Tomorrow. (2013). Energy tomorrow tv commercials. [Television Commercial]. Retrieved from
https://www.ispot.tv/brands/Ig9/energy-tomorrow
51
O'Leary, S. (2021, February 19). ORVI report – Appalachia’s natural gas counties: How dreams of jobs and prosperity turned into almost
nothing. Retrieved from https://ohiorivervalleyinstitute.org/fracking-counties-economic-impact-report/
52
Scott, M. (2020, June 05). Pandemic accelerates decline and fall of fossil fuel producers. Forbes Online. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikescott/2020/06/05/pandemic-accelerates-decline-and-fall-of-fossil-fuel-producers/?sh=25b7de3cf639
21In contrast, clean energy production,
just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic,
had been one of the nation’s
fastest53 growing industries.
At the end of 2020,54 more than 3.3
million Americans that worked in
clean energy jobs were offered
higher hourly wages than the
national average. The clean energy
workforce was nearly three times the
number of the fossil fuel workforce.
Observed market growth and
environmental initiatives by the Biden
administration, positions the clean
energy industry to rebuild the post-
pandemic American economy.
Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry
admitted that it is one of the most
dangerous work sectors. From 2013-
14, fatal injuries within the industry
increased by 27 percent with 142
55
fatal injuries, nearly 16 deaths per 100,000 workers. According to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, since 1968, 76,000 coal miners have died of black lung disease.56,57 Still, fossil fuel
conglomerates continue to invest in growth measures and infrastructure.
Co-opt Community Leaders and Organizations and Misrepresent
the Interests and Opinions of Communities
Co-opting can be used as a tactic to neutralize or weaken public opposition. It creates
deceptive alliances with local churches, non-profit organizations, and other groups by offering
financial support58 in the form of charitable contributions, gifts, and endowments. Fossil fuel
companies have targeted some NAACP branches with this tactic.
CO-OPT: TAKE OVER, APPROPRIATE (Merriam Webster Online)
53
Snieckus, D. (2021, January 13). Anaemic: Over 400,000 us clean energy jobs lost since outbreak of covid-19. Retrieved from
https://www.rechargenews.com/transition/anaemic-over-400-000-us-clean-energy-jobs-lost-since-outbreak-of-covid-19/2-1-943841
54
Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2). (2020 October). Clean jobs, better jobs: An examination of clean energy jobs and wages. Retrieved
from https://e2.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Clean-Jobs-Better-Jobs.-October-2020.-E2-ACORE-CELI.pdf
55
Bureau of Labor Statistics (2017). National census of fatal occupational illnesses. Retrieved from
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cfoi.pdf
56
Department of Labor. (2014). MHSA issues final rule on lowering coal miners’ exposure to respirable coal dust. Retrieved from
https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/msha/msha20140669
57
Berkes, H., Jingnan, H., and Benincasa, R. (2018, December 18). . An epidemic is killing thousands of coal miners. regulators could have
stopped it. WAMU. Retrieved from https://wamu.org/story/18/12/18/an-epidemic-is-killing-thousands-of-coal-miners-regulators-could-have-
stopped-it/
22“I felt that if we wanted the
money, we had to do it.”
President Adora Nweze, NAACP
Florida State Conference, on accepting
funding from Florida Power & Light58
For many years, the St. Louis, Missouri
NAACP Branch accepted financial
support from Peabody Coal without
any strings attached, or so they
thought. When the branch did not
receive a response from Peabody Coal
to their Freedom Fund Banquet fundraiser, the NAACP branch president did a routine follow
up. Peabody Coal retorted, ‘We only give money to our friends and your folks went down and
talked bad about coal to the EPA.’ There it was – the hidden agenda.
A spinoff of this corrupted co-opting tactic is the misrepresentation of information to the
public. An energy company lobbying to build a gas compressor station in a
historically black community in Union Hill in Virginia, Dominion, committed $5 million to
expand emergency services and build a new community center. The NAACP Virginia State
Conference wrote a letter to call out the company for doing the very least under the
circumstances. The letter was misrepresented as an affirmation of the gas compressor
station. The VA NAACP filed a claim with the VA Air Pollution Control Board, to reassert their
opposition. 59
58
Penn, I. (2020, January 05). N.A.A.C.P. tells local chapters: Don't let energy industry manipulate you. New York Times Online. Retrieved
from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/05/business/energy-environment/naacp-utility-donations.html
59
Virginia NAACP files powerful comments on Dominion’s proposed Union Hill compressor station. (2019, January 5). Blue Virginia.
Retrieved from https://bluevirginia.us/2019/01/virginia-naacp-files-powerful-comments-on-dominions-proposed-union-hill-compressor-station
23Another ugly head of co-opting is the
establishment of shell organizations
with faces and voices of target
communities to pedal messaging.
The tactic, also known as
“astroturfing,”60 creates a false
impression that there is community
support, or grassroots action for
change. Often, such policy-based
campaigns are financed with the
intent to misinform and manipulate
voters.
SoCalGas has started a non-profit,
California for Balanced Energy
Solutions61 to challenge policy
initiatives such as the city of San
Luis Obispo’s “Clean Energy Choice
for New Buildings”62. The latter aims
to discourage natural gas installations in new buildings and incentivize all-electric, energy-
efficient installations. SoCalGas’ non-profit uses fear rhetoric against “intrusive government
interventions” that threaten resident’s freedom of choice. During a council vote in March
2020, the board president of California for Balanced Energy Solutions – who is also the union
president for SoCalGas – refused to follow social distancing policies and threatened to bus in
protesters during COVID-19
national shutdown orders.63
SoCalGas took their astroturfing
strategy even further by using a
third-party firm63 to spread rumors
that Clean Energy Choice hurt
Black and Brown residents. The
firm falsely claimed that the mayor
was “getting a lot of heat” from
“local Latino groups and the
NAACP.” The San Luis Obispo
branch president of the NAACP,
Stephen Vines, was quick to
60
Bienkov, A. (2012, February 8). Astroturfing: What is it and why does it matter? Retrieved from
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/feb/08/what-is-astroturfing
61
Californians for Balanced energy solutions. (2019). Retrieved from https://c4bes.org/
62
Office of Sustainability. (2021). Clean energy choice for new buildings. City of San Luis Obispo. Retrieved from
https://www.slocity.org/government/department-directory/city-administration/office-of-sustainability/climate-action/carbon-neutral-
buildings#:~:text=The%20proposed%20Clean%20Energy%20Choice,to%20the%20California%20Energy%20Code.
63
Atkin, E. (2020, July 03). The quiet campaign to make clean energy racist. Retrieved from https://heated.world/p/the-quiet-campaign-to-
make-clean
24denounce the rumors, reminding the public “We’re the ones who breathe this air. We are the
ones dying.”
“
Take Pacoima Beautiful, which fights for cleaner air in the mostly Latino, low-income
northeast San Fernando Valley. Between 2014 and 2018, the environmental justice group
took $107,750 from Sempra subsidiary SoCalGas.
In August 2016, Pacoima Beautiful’s executive director, Veronica Padilla, wrote a letter to
state officials in support of reopening the gas company’s Aliso Canyon storage facility,
which a year earlier had sprung the worst methane leak in U.S. history.
Padilla now says she was reluctantly doing the company’s bidding. Eventually her group
stopped accepting SoCalGas funding, and today it’s pushing Los Angeles officials to shut
down a gas plant whose fuel is supplied by SoCalGas. The city-owned plant recently
leaked methane for at least three years, raising concerns about potential health effects to
nearby residents.
‘Other environmental justice groups continue to take the [gas company] money and say,
‘Let’s do something good with their money.’ But I think it’s important for us to take a stand
and just say no,’ Padilla said.
”
- Los Angeles Times
We must be alert to the astroturfing strategy veiled under harmless sounding entities such as
“California for Balanced Energy Solutions” and “Consumers for Smart Solar.” These “shells”
feed false narratives and campaigns to consumers. The fossil fuel business model relies on
customers’ dependency on the product and maximizing profit at the expense of the long-term
community sustainability and wellbeing.
25Praise False Solutions While Claiming that Real Solutions are
Impractical, Impossible, or Harmful for BIPOC and Poor
Communities
“I just left Montana, and I looked at those trains and they’re loaded up
with clean coal — beautiful clean coal.”
~former President Donald Trump
Fossil fuel companies will often deceptively present themselves as eco-friendly by making
commitments to energy efficiency and “clean” energy production. This tactic promotes a
misperception that these companies can mitigate the environmental and social damage. It
also fabricates trust with consumers and discredits renewable resource and energy options.
Fossil fuel companies will often try to undermine renewable energy viability with skewed data
or misleading messaging.
26“Affordability” tactics target low-income communities, warning against disenfranchisement in
the clean energy transition. Northwest Natural Gas’s renewable natural gas (RNG), uses
“affordability” as a selling point. However, it turns out to be more expensive than other energy
resources.64
A 2017 climate primer65 produced by the American Petroleum Institute (API) touted the
benefits of natural gas and oil – for its affordability and economic sustainability. The primer
suggested that using natural gas is responsible for helping to drive down CO2 emissions and
making the U.S. “second to none” in countries reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The Environmental Energy Study Institute66 in 2018 reported that the U.S. accounts for only
five percent of the global population yet is
“
responsible for 30% of global energy use and 28%
of carbon emissions. Electricity industries count for
about 29% of the greenhouse gases emitted into
We advocate for the issues that affect
the atmosphere.
us. […] we don’t believe that the
Natural gas creates more planet-warming research is there to say it’s an effective
emissions much faster than coal.67 Natural gas method. […] So it’s a waste of
companies have nevertheless marketed their
resources to do carbon capture while
product as “cleaner than coal and will only get
cleaner.” Through all the misinformation and we allow polluters to keep polluting.
”
marketing campaigns, we see and we have
experienced the toxic pollution harming tribal
groups, communities of color, and low-income
communities, and our earth. - James Dillon, NAACP member
64
Feinstein, L. (2021, March 9). The four fatal flaws of renewable natural gas. Sightline Institute. Retrieved from
https://www.sightline.org/2021/03/09/the-four-fatal-flaws-of-renewable-natural-gas/
65
American Petroleum Institute. (2017, May). Climate change and energy. Retrieved from
https://www.api.org/~/media/Files/Policy/Environment/Climate-Change-and-Energy/CLIMATE-PRIMER.pdf
66
Environmental and Energy Study Institute. (2018, May 27). U.S. leads in greenhouse gas reductions, but some states are falling behind.
Retrieved from https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/u.s.-leads-in-greenhouse-gas-reductions-but-some-states-are-falling-behind
67
Roth, S. (2020, Nov 30). A 'gaslight' campaign for fossil fuels. Los Angeles Times Online. Retrieved from
https://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=4087eace-619e-4b0b-871f-9145d61250a7
27“Embrace” Renewables to Control the New Energy Economy
Fossil fuel companies will publicly
assume interest in sustainable
solutions and privately fight for
regulation to maintain their
monopoly on the energy economy.
Florida Power and Light (FPL), one
of the largest utility providers in the
country, created the Sunshine
Energy Program in 2004. Four
years later, Florida Public Service
Commission (PSC) shut it down for
mismanagement of funds. Over
38,000 customers had contributed
to renewable energy development
projects, of which, only 20% was
actually used for the cause.
In 2014, FPL resurrected a
“community-based” solar energy program, accepting donations for their solar project.
Simultaneously, FPL filed a petition requesting that the Florida Public Service Commission
(PSC) discontinue its solar rebate program that started 3 years earlier.
In 2020, masked as SolarTogether, FPL campaigned for customers to pay extra on their
electric bills, promising the proceeds would finance a solar project and that they will be paid
backed in 7 years. FPL has “dressed in new clothes” the same renewable energy program
funded by customer-based donations since 1998.
FPL partnered with utility giant Duke Energy against the 2020
ballot initiative, “Right to Competitive Energy Market for
Customers of Investor-Owned Utilities; Allowing Energy Choice.
The initiative promised customers the right to choose from a
series of energy options from a competitive market. The utility
giants used “affordability” rhetoric to crush the initiative warning
that rates will go up if it passed. Winning the public’s confidence,
the initiative was voted out and they maintained stronghold of the
energy sector.
Big utility companies green wash their product as “renewable
natural gas” that is more affordable and emits less greenhouse
gases.68 RNG is methane gas, which is chemically identical to
fossil fuel gas, and just as harmful.64
68
Roberts, D. ( 2020, February 20). The false promise of ‘renewable natural gas.’ Vox Online Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/energy-
and-environment/2020/2/14/21131109/california-natural-gas-renewable-socalgas
28The Real Facts about the Imperative to
Transition to a New Energy Economy
29Fossil Fuel Emissions Kill – Disproportionately Killing Residents of
BIPOC and Low-Income Communities
Approximately 63,000 Americans are killed each year by air pollution. In the U.S. an
estimated $600 billion per year in 2050 will amount to the “total social cost due to air pollution
mortality, morbidity, lost productivity, and visibility degradation.”69 These Americans are
disproportionally BIPOC and low-income community residents.
A report published by the Union of Concerned
Scientists, outlined that approximately 40% of
communities of color and low-income
communities live within three miles of power
plants that emit particulate matter that
harmfully taints air quality. 70 Energy
companies are not legally held accountable to
compensate the damages they cause, instead
these costs are absorbed by medical patients,
their families, and taxpayers.
The National Research Council reports that air
pollution from U.S. coal-fired power plants Defiant Dakota Access Pipeline water protectors faced-off
alone causes approximately 1,530 with various law enforcement agencies on Feb. 22, 2017,
the day the camp was slated to be raided.
preventable deaths each year. They also
cause $62 billion in total damages per year for
people exposed to the toxins emitted by the
extraction and use of coal.71 As our Coal
Blooded report states: African Americans are
more likely to live near coal-fired power plants;
African American children are 2-3 times likely
to die of an asthma attack; and African
American men are more likely to die from lung
disease while less likely to smoke.
According to a recent report from the Union of
Concerned Scientists, approximately “one in
five uranium mines is located within six miles
of tribal lands” across the western United
States.70 Abandoned hard rock mines expose
Indigenous communities to chemical pollutions
and toxins, increasing their risk of developing kidney disease and hypertension.
69
Jacobson, M.Z., Delucchi, M.A., Bazouin, G., Bauer, Z.A.F., Heavey, C.C., Fisher, E., Morris, S., Piekutowski, D. J.Y., Vencilla, T., and
Yeskoo, T.W. (2015). 100% clean and renewable wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) all-sector energy roadmaps for the 50 Unites States.
Energy and Environmental Science. Retrieved from http://web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/Articles/I/USStatesWWS.pdf
70
Union of Concerned Scientists. (2019 October). Abandoned science, broken promises. Center for Science and Democracy. Retrieved
from https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/abandoned-science-broken-promises-web-final.pdf
71
Environmental and Climate Justice Program. (2004). Coal blooded report. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Retrieved from http://action.naacp.org/page/-/Climate/Coal_Blooded_Executive_Summary_Update.pdf
30University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health’s research has identified patterns
where pregnant women living within proximity to a “high density of natural gas wells” are
more likely to deliver infants with lower birth weights than women who live further away from
wells.72 Low birth weight newborns have higher risks of long-term health issues and infant
mortality.73 Inequities in maternal health care already predispose Black infants to increased
risks of infant mortality compared to white infants.
72
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. (n.d.). Lower birth weight associated with proximity of mother’s home to gas wells.
University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Retrieved from https://mirm-pitt.net/documents/pdf/Pitt-Lower-Birth-Weight-
Associated-with.pdf
73
National Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Division of Reproductive Health (n.d.). Infant mortality. Retrieved
from https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/infantmortality.htm
31“
But La'Tonya Troutman with the
LaPorte County branch of the
NAACP, says low-income and
minority groups that live near these
coal plants are often neglected.
‘We can't overlook these
communities and their needs as well
just for the sake of others, when we
are the ones breathing it in,’ “
Troutman says. The Rev. Corine Mack, president of the
”
[Charlotte-Mecklenburg County] NAACP
branch, agrees.
- NPR
‘It’s very easy to implement anything in the
black community because most of the time
black people won’t say anything because
they don’t know,’ she said. ‘This is why it’s
important to educate people, so they know
the harm that’s being done.’
Mack also expressed how unlikely it is to
see racial injustice perpetrated upon upper
class neighborhoods.
‘You can’t go into Myers Park and do this
or Ballantyne because you know they won’t
allow it,’ she said. ‘Many times, because
we are ignorant to what’s going on, they
Fossil Fuel Pollution Affects get away with murder. People are dying
Communities Differently: BIPOC and don’t know why they’re dying.’
”
Communities Carry Burdens &
- The Charlotte Post
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